Various apparatuses for removing dust from a vehicle during the production process and prior to painting have been known in the industry. One such apparatus includes the “feather duster” device and includes an adjustable horizontal wiping unit and vertical wiping heads attached to a frame and positioned to wipe a vehicle clean of dust as the vehicle moves along an assembly line. There appears to be many issues with the feather duster apparatus. First, power assisted auxiliary air cylinders are needed to raise and lower the horizontal wiping unit and motors are often required to rotate the horizontal and vertical wiping heads. Aside from the increased cost of maintaining the air cylinders and motors, workers are often required to manually operate such apparatuses to insure complete surface preparation.
In addition, as a feather duster apparatus does not actually use “feathers,” but uses yarn as the wiping media, there is a greater chance that yarn seeds and previously removed dirt caught in the media will be deposited or re-deposited onto the surface of the automobile. To solve this problem, rotating horizontal wipers covered with tack cloth have been implemented to minimize redeposition of removed materials. However, because the horizontal and vertical wipers rotate, dust and other particles may be ejected and redeposited on the vehicle surface during rotation.
Accordingly, there is a desire for a passive vehicle surface preparation apparatus having stationary top (horizontal) and side (vertical) wipers for effectively removing dust and other particles from the surface of a vehicle prior to painting.